Local Governance And Social Policy

The aim of this course is the understanding of the potential and limits of the local scale for the design and implementation of social
policy. Upon the successful completion of the course, students will be in the position to:
Distinguish between the concepts of growth and development
Learn about the criticism that has been raised against past development programs from the perspective of dependency theories (core
and periphery).
Get familiarized with the main tenets of the degrowth perspective.
Understand the diverse approaches to the concept of the community.
Define conceptually Social Economy, Solidarity Economy and their synthesis in Social Solidarity Economy (SSE). Detect the various types
of SSE entities (cooperatives, non profits and social enterprises).
Understand the differences among the various approaches to social innovation.
Get familiarized with various initiatives for the formation and maintenance of urban commons.
Learn about the new generation of transformative public policies with emphasis on the local scale.